Signal or smoke rocket



Jan. 16, 1951 c. D. SCHERMULY ET AL 2,538,333

SIGNAL OR SMOKE ROCKET Filed Oct. 50,1947

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 ASQZJMYWL, I

ATTORNEYS.

c. D. SCHERMULY ET AL 2,538,333

Jan. 16, 1951 SIGNAL OR SMOKE ROCKET 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001:. 30,1947 Q INVE TORS,

BY 7M 7 ATTORNEYS.

\ 3 Figure 2 in which position the rocket travels through the airemitting smoke through the choke 8 in the rear end of the casing 2during the whole, or a substantial part, of its flight.

Referring now to Figures 6 to 8, the rear casing 20 is movable axiallywithin the front casing 2|. Movement ofthe casing'ZEI rearwardly islimited byi the abutment of a flange 22 on the front end of the casing20 against an annular stop 23 fixed in the rear end of the casing 2| bywelding or by means of screws.

The rear portion of the casing 21 is provided with four apertures 2% toallow for the escape of the gases generated by the burning of thepropellent composition in the casing 2|.

The casings 2! and 20 may be charged with propellent and smoke-producingcomposition in exactly the same way as the casings I and 2 in Figures 1to 5. Alternatively, and as shown in Figure 8, both compositions may beof the kind which burn inwardly from the outer surface, instead ofoutwardly as in Figures 1 to 5.

- Referring to Figure 8, the propellent composition 25 is in the form ofa. pressed cylinder which is held in spaced relation to the casing 21 bymeans of bands; 26. surrounding the composition 25 and provided withprojections 27 to form spiders. The pressed cylinder 23 of smokeproducing composition is similarly supported in the casing by means ofspiders 29. Ignition of the compositions andi28 is effected by means offuzes 30 and 3|. The fuze 30, which is attached to the rear end of thecomposition 25, passes through an orifice in the conical plug 32,through the space between the composition 28 and the casing 20 and outthrough an orif ce in the choke collar [4 on the rear casing I isprovided with two further sleeves 34 in which are rigidly secured rods35. Freely slidable on the rods -35-are two sleeves 36 (Figure 10) whichare secured to the inside of a band 37. Three bars 33 are welded at oneend to the outside of the band 37 and at the other end to the inside ofa wider band 39,the bands 37 and 39 and the bars 38' together with thesleeves 35 constituting a sliding tail. Stops 40 are welded or screwedonto the ends of the the bars 42.

4 rods 35 to limit the rearward movement of the sliding tail. When therocket is in flight, the sliding tail occupies the position shown inFigure 11, thus stabilising the flight of the rocket.

Referring now to Figures 12 and 13, the parts which are the same as inFigures 6 to 8 are designated by the same reference numerals.

The sliding tail in this instance is formed of a band 4! slidable on thecasing 20 and joined by three bars 42 to a wider band 43. Slots 44 areprovided inthe annular stop 23 to accommodate A flange 45 is provided atthe rear end of the casing 20 to act as a stop to limit rearwardmovement of the sliding tail on the casing We claim:

1. A rocket comprising a front casing, a rocket propellent compositionwithin said front casing,

rods secured to the front casing, a rear casing slidably carried by saidrods, a signalling composition within the rear casing and a passagethrough the length of the signalling composition in the rear casingwhereby the flash from an actuating cartridge may reach and ignite therocket propellent composition in the forward casing and at the same timeignite the signalling composition, said rear casin being capable of alimited axial sliding movement on the rods, relative to the frontcasing, whereby upon discharge of the rocket, the front casing movesforward relative to the rear casing to the extent of the limitedmovement to maintain the two compositions in spaced relationship duringthe flight of the rocket while prior to discharge the two casings may bemoved towards each other to reduce the overall'length of the rocket.

2. A rocket as claimed in claim '1 in which the rear casing is providedwith a sliding tail.

CONRAD DAVID SCHERMULY. ALFRED JAMES SCHERMULY. CHARLES SCHERMULY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS.

Number Name Date 376,375 Fletcher Jan. 10, 1888 479,738 Cunningham July26, 1892 1,049,144 Quisling Dec. 31, 1912 1,879,840 Brandt Sept. 27,1932 2,359,515 Fanger Oct. 3, 1944 2,409,904 Schermuly et a1. Oct. 22,1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 392,902 France Oct. 9, 1908

